iZotope RX 2.01

iZotope RX 2 is a powerful, professional audio repair toolkit which provides a host of options for cleaning up your audio files.

There are options to remove noise, electrical hum, clicks and crackles, for instance. A Declip feature can reduce or even remove the distortion caused by analogue overloads. And the very clever Spectral Repair tool helps you to identify and remove annoying background sounds - a cough, a single clap, a dog barking - even when they're overlapping more complex audio that you really want to keep.

If you're not an audio geek then this can sound a little intimidating, and a first look at the RX 2 interface only seems to confirm this: it's packed with buttons, sliders and status indicators of various types.

In use, though, the program proved very straightforward. If you've digitised an old vinyl LP, say, and your recording has a few clicks, then you'd first open the file and choose the Declick and Decrackle option. Choosing the "Vinyl Record" preset configures the program appropriately, clicking Process will start the cleanup procedure, and that's it: all you have to do is wait for the finished results.

And it's much the same with other operations, even advanced features like Spectral Repair. iZotope RX provides plenty of presets so you can set it up for common tasks in a couple of clicks. And once you're familiar with the basics then you can also start tweaking other, more low-level settings for even better cleaning results.

Please note, this trial version will for ten days allow you to apply whatever repair tools and options you'd like to your audio, and hear the results. However, you won't be able to save the cleaned-up audio until you've purchased a program licence.

Verdict

iZotope RX delivers great audio cleanup results - but then it really should at this price